


Before the Audition

by luxshine



Category: Backstreet Boys, Popslash
Genre: AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-28
Updated: 2012-02-28
Packaged: 2017-10-31 21:02:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/348338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luxshine/pseuds/luxshine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Howie and Brian meet auditioning for the same role for a not conventional play off Broadway</p>
            </blockquote>





	Before the Audition

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Chalcopryte](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Chalcopryte).



> Written for Make the Yuletide Gay 2011

Howie sighed, looking at his script. He was there, for audition number #67, and he was sure he wouldn’t get the role again, but still couldn’t make himself give up.

He had arrived in New York two years before in the most clichéd way: wanting to make it as a Broadway actor. Half of his friends had gone to Florida, in hopes to get in the music business, and the other half were in L.A., trying the same, but in Hollywood. But no, Howie had to fall in love with the stage, and try his luck alone.

Sure, as soon as he had found an apartment –more like a small room with a closet that just happened to have a bathroom installed- he had managed also to get a job at Ellen’s Stardust Dinner… in what had been his only really successful audition. At Ellen he had meet great guys, like A.J, also from Florida, who was convinced one day would rock the stage as the Phantom of the Opera, if only they gave him a chance, and Nick, the youngest of the morning crew, who had gotten his first role as Garvoche #2 in Les Mis but hadn’t had much luck since then either. There were also the great Kentucky wonders, Brian and Kevin, who were considered the “lucky” ones from the morning shift as they had managed to get more than one speaking role in many plays. Sure, none famous, and most had closed in two weeks or less, but still, their resume was far more impressive than Howie’s.

Of course, they also tended to cross paths in auditions, but for some reason, they never let that get in the way of their friendship. Part of it was that most of the time, they all were unsuccessful, got their rejections at the same time and thus, usually drowned their sorrows in the exact same place: Kevin and Brian’s apartment, because the cousins could actually pay something that had more than just four walls and a door. The other part was that they never auditioned for the exact same role, since they all had different types and styles so their friendship was unchallenged.

However, this time was a bit different from the others. He had found about the audition from his sister, Pollyanna, who basically threatened Howie with castration if he didn’t managed to get a role.

“Even if it’s just as the book,” Pollyanna had said on the phone, leaving Howie no choice. And because he was unable to say no to his sisters, Howie had spent the following two weeks navigating YouTube finding the songs and the script to know what he was getting into. He hoped he could get the role of Scott, the main character’s best friend, since he was sure no one would cast him as an action hero. Howie had always considered himself more as the sidekick, rather than the main character. Maybe it was a pessimistic way of thinking, but it was better than setting the bar too high. Also, he had decided not to mention this to the others, not because he wanted to keep the audition a secret, but because he knew the movie the musical was based on was Nick’s favorite and he wanted to spare himself from the teasing after he didn’t got the part.

“Hey, Howie, what a surprise,” Brian sat down next to him, surprising Howie, so he barely managed to squeal a greeting. “I didn’t think this play was your sort of thing.”

“Any paying job is my sort of thing,” Howie answered, not managing to keep the bitterness out of his voice. The constant rejection was getting to him. And he knew that Brian would understand, since he also lived with that. They were partners in rejections, and, if Howie was honest with himself, he wanted to be closer to Brian. And he would admit it to Brian, if he wasn’t deadly afraid of Kevin who tended to be a bit overprotective of his cousin. “What about you? For the title alone, you can bet this is going to be violent, and bloody and probably a little bit out of your usual scope. You’re more into family things, right?”

“You can blame Kevin,” Brian laughed, and showed him the script. “See, he also said I was being too picky, and that I needed to have more goals in life than waiting for a chimeney sweeper to quit from Mary Poppins so… here I am.”

“Who are you reading for?” Howie asked, honestly curious. There were only four male roles in the play, and it would make things awkward if they both were reading the same. Not to mention, it would cement the fact that Howie wouldn’t get the role. Brian looked more like a frat boy than Howie did.

“Well, since I’m doing this at all, I decided to do it well. I’m aiming for Ash… although with my bad luck, I will probably end up as a tree.”

Howie chuckled, and looked at the script on Brian’s hands. “Who would’ve thought that we would try and get tree roles after we graduated elementary school, right?”

“Hey, the trees are very popular characters here, although I don’t want to think about that too much,” Brian laughed with him, as the room filled with more actors obviously there to get their chance. Most were dressed in the same fashion as Brian, gray jeans and blue shirt, which meant that they were there for the same role. It was a way to try and show the producers and director how good they could be, but Howie didn’t believe in that particular tactic. No, his way was to learn every single song of the show if it was possible to show the powers that be that even if he wasn’t good for one role, he could work as anyone.

“I hope you get the role,” Howie said after the third couple of hopefuls went on the stage. “You would do a great Ash.”

“You mean you hope we get the roles, don’t you?” Brian frowned. “I mean, we would work together here too and that would’ve great, right? Unless the eight hour shift at Ellen’s is too much for you to stand me…”

“I would love to be with you all day, Brian,” Howie said, and then bit his lip, as he realized exactly how it sounded. “I mean, I would like to work with you more, but, we both know it’s not going to happen.”

“All day sounds perfect for me, even if we both bomb this audition,” Brian winked at him, still smiling. It was then when Howie realized that it was not the usual mock flirtiation that Brian used with everyone, but something a little different. “Although I see no reason why you shouldn’t get the role. I’ve heard you sing, and I’ve seen you act. You’re great.”

“You’re just saying that to be polite,” Howie smiled. “I mean, you have only heard me sing at Ellen’s, and that’s not enough to judge…”

“Hey, I wouldn’t mind hearing you singing in the shower,” Brian leaned closer, until their foreheads were almost touching. “We could make a great duet.”

Howie spluttered, not knowing how to answer the very obvious line. He had heard Brian mock flirt with the others a couple of times, but never with him. Now he wondered about that, but before he could even think about an answer, the casting director interrupted.

“Numbers 33 for Ash and 35 for Scott, on the stage now!”

“I think that’s me and you,” Brian got up, pointing to Howie’s number on his shirt. “Ready to bring the house down?”

“Sure, why not?” Howie accepted Brian’s hand and got up. It would be a new experience, to read lines with a close friend. And definitively once they finished there and Brian got a call back and Howie his usual rejection, they could talk about Brian’s flirting.

* * *

To Howie’s never ending surprise, he got the part, and so did Brian. The casting director had decided that they had good chemistry together, a comment that made Brian laugh and hug Howi, giving him a loud, wet kiss in the cheek.

“So, we’re going to be working together for a couple of months at least, right?” Howie asked, as they sat together in Howie’s apartment. After the audition, Brian had insisted that they had to celebrate, but since none of them had a car, and neither wanted to call the others, the celebration had ended up being pizza and beer.

“A little more if the play is as successful here as it was in Canada,” Brian lifted his beer, in a mock toast. “So you’ll get disemboweled for a while, while I cut my hand with a chainsaw. Fun times, right?”

“I think you got the worst part,” Howie smiled, despite himself. “Did you really meant what you said back there?”

“What, that you deserved the role? Sure I did,” Brian edged closer to Howie on the couch, to grab one more slice of the pizza.

“And about the duet on the shower?”

“Too forward? Kevin swore that line worked…” Brian shook his head. “And so did A.J…”

“Have you seen Kevin and A.J’s boyfriends?” Howie pointed out, laughing. “I mean, I highly doubt either Chris or Joey fell for that line.”

“Actually, I think it was them using the line on Kevin and A.J.,” Brian corrected. “And you’ll have to excuse me, but I’m not very good at flirting seriously so… I needed all the help I could get.”

“You were doing it pretty well, if you ask me,” Howie put down his beer and sat as close as he could to Brian without actually sitting on him. “Once, someone tried to woo me singing a song from the play we were auditioning for.”

“I don’t think it would work here,” Brian leaned forward, close enough to touch his nose “My choice would’ve been between ‘Housewares Employee’ or… what? ‘all the men in my life keep getting killed by Candarian demons’?”

“What the fuck was that gives us sort of a tango together, I’ll die in your arms every night now, you know?” Howie didn’t move away. It was just like in the audition, just that now they couldn’t be interrupted by anyone.

Or so they thought, until five minutes later when Nick, A.J. and Kevin knocked on the door, as they had heard the good news and came to congratulate them.

But it was o.k. As Brian said, now they had all the time of the world.

The End.

**Author's Note:**

> During Make the Yuletide Gay I couldn't reveal the name of the play as it would've been obvious it was me. However, here I can tell you that it's Evil Dead: The Musical, and yes, it's as bloody as I make it sound, and the two main male characters (For the first half) dance a very romantic looking Tango.  
> For those who know the movies but not the play... yes, the TREES make an appearance.


End file.
